Emotional recognition and regulation in dissociative seizures
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Investigating the concept of willful submission to seizures: Seizure experiences, emotional recognition and emotional regulation in people experiencing dissociative seizures
IRAS ID
139820
Contact name
Christopher Graham
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
NHS Lothian
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Many patients report experiencing strong unpleasant sensations and emotions immediately preceding a dissociative seizure. Recently some of our patients have reported deliberately bringing on a seizure or allowing it to happen as a way to escape or get rid of these unpleasant sensations/emotions ; a process we refer to as wilful submission.
In the present study we want to understand the phenomenon of wilful submission in more detail. We will do this by investigating: 1) the proportion of patients with dissociative seizures who report wilful submission to their seizures; 2) the comparative seizure experiences of people who wilfully submit to seizures; 3) the comparative emotional regulation and recognition of people who wilfully submit to seizures. In addition, as many people experience spontaneous remission of dissociative seizures soon after diagnosis, we will also investigate if those reporting wilful submission and/or certain ways of regulating emotions tend to experience better outcomes.
The present study will recruit patients who report experiencing seizures (both those with dissociative seizures and an epilepsy control group) from neurology/neuropsychiatry seizure clinics across the UK. These patients will be asked to complete online questionnaires and an emotion recognition task, all of which can be done from their own homes. The questionnaires and tasks aim to capture whether participants wilfully submit to seizures alongside their emotional functioning and ability to recognize emotions. Groups who wilfully submit to dissociative seizures, those who do not, and an epilepsy control group can be compared on all these variables. If those who wilfully submit to dissociative seizures differ from those who do not in terms of emotional regulation or prognosis, then this should help inform how we treat these patients e.g. with a greater focus on emotional regulation within cognitive behavioural therapy.REC name
South East Scotland REC 01
REC reference
14/SS/1057
Date of REC Opinion
13 Nov 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion